Sunland Inc. spokeswoman Katalin Coburn declined Monday to estimate when operations at the country’s largest organic peanut processing plant may resume, saying only that officials are awaiting a response from the Food and Drug Administration.

Sunland shuttered its operations in Portales and began a top-to-bottom scrubbing in late September after salmonella was found in peanut butter it made for Trader Joe’s. The company then issued a voluntary recall of hundreds of products. Forty-one illnesses in 20 states have been linked to the peanut butter.

The shutdown comes amid a bumper harvest of eastern New Mexico’s prized Valencia peanuts. Coburn said the peanuts are being stored for processing when the plant reopens.